Transition from Student Life to
Professional Career
Dialogue with experienced engineers
Frank Fong, P.E. Retired
Stan Horwitz, P.E.
Agenda
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Career Paths and Engineering Skills
Working World Realities
Engineering Professional
Career Habits
Lessons Learned
Transition Student -> Professional
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Engineering Career Paths
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Industry
Government
Academia
Entrepreneur – product, service
Non-engineering – business, entertainment,
medicine, law, etc.
Paths may change, overlap, or repeat over a career.
Explore to grow and find your passion.
Transition Student -> Professional
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Your Engineering Skills
Student Life
• Breaking problems into
smaller pieces
• Analysis based on full
facts / data
• Tradeoff choices for
best solution
• Innovate and explore
Professional Life
• Map system requirements
to system architecture and
flow down to next levels
• Analysis based on partial
information available now
• Tradeoff choices early.
Revisit again after having
more information later
• Innovate enough to solve
problem within constraints
Strong problem solving and analysis skills are valuable.
Transition Student -> Professional
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Agenda
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Career Paths and Engineering Skills
Working World Realities
Engineering Professional
Career Habits
Lessons Learned
Transition Student -> Professional
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Career Ladders in Industry
• Technical specialist
– Lead and contribute to critical technical
capabilities
• Program / project management
– Lead technical and business efforts to meet
customer needs
• Organizational management
– Lead engineering organizations, major business
units, or corporations
Transition Student -> Professional
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New Experiences in Working World
• Competing with engineers globally
– Challenge and stretch yourself to adapt and embrace change
• Working with greater diversity among team members
– Show flexibility to accept shades of gray and opposing
opinions while working to build team consensus
• Meeting project goals
– Handle obstacles like resource constraints, costs, schedule
and changing priorities that will pop up
• Being prepared for performance evaluations, layoffs,
and continuing efforts tomanage own career
Transition Student -> Professional
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Keys for Successful Career (1 of 3)
• Adaptability
– Learn new things and apply knowledge from other fields
– Take on new challenges
– Embrace changes
• Flexibility
– Work well with others to achieve goals (building teams)
– Appreciate other perspectives
– Explore other feasible options
• Capability to handle obstacles
– Expect changes / challenges / constraints
– Work with others to solve problems creatively
– Raise problems early and offer suggested resolutions
Transition Student -> Professional
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Keys for Successful Career (2 of 3)
• Self-assessment
– Honestly know your strengths and weaknesses
– Build strengths and reduce impact of weaknesses
– Work with mentors
• Using your time wisely
– Set priorities, not just react to urgent problems / requests
– Limit handling personal tasks at work
– Take time to build relationships and networks
• Managing perceptions by bosses and team members
– Dress successfully and conduct yourself professionally
– Learn the ropes and expectations of your work organization
– Avoid negative reactions and attacks on others
Transition Student -> Professional
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Keys for Successful Career (3 of 3)
• Successful career skills
– Maintain positive can-do attitude
– Keep learning through classes, seminars, meetings or
experimenting
– Communicate clearly and effectively from audience’s
perspective
– Treat others with respect even when you have different
opinions
– Save (pay yourself first) early and regularly to let money
grow with time for financial independence and retirement
Transition Student -> Professional
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Communication Skills
• Write status reports, technical memoranda, or
detailed recommendations
– Organize your thoughts
– Adapt the message to your audience’s preference and
concerns
• Present current status, technical review of
accomplishments and issues, recommendations
• Negotiate schedules, costs, resources and
expectations for tasks
Develop inter-personal and technical communication skills.
Transition Student -> Professional
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Leadership Skills
• J.D. Hokoyama’s 3 Ps of leadership:
– Passionate, persistent, people-focused
• Inspire others to become better, and teams to
achieve greater goals together
• Can lead even without a formal title
• Volunteer to get practical experience with low risks
– Employee affinity or technical groups
• Demonstrate by developing your effective teams
– Build relationships and trust with others
Transition Student -> Professional
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Mentoring
• Seek mentors throughout your career
– Get honest feedback and advice
– Gain benefits when mentors introduce your name as
candidates to new opportunities
– Seek people you respect and want to imitate
• At least two levels above you to provide broader perspective
• Mentor others throughout your career
– Share your knowledge and skills with young and old
– Develop others to backfill for you when you move up
Transition Student -> Professional
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Agenda
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Career Paths and Engineering Skills
Working World Realities
Engineering Professional
Career Habits
Lessons Learned
Transition Student -> Professional
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Engineering Professional
• Apply science, math, economics, and broad
experience to solve problems
– Satisfaction in seeing own/team design become reality
• Evaluate different solutions to solve problem
– Find that one best matching requirements, real
constraints (schedule, cost, risk, etc), and expected
performance
• Directly impact general welfare and society
– Will not cause unintended harm to the public health
or safety
Transition Student -> Professional
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Engineering Professional Traits
• Learn continuously
– Develop depth and breath
– Expand tool chest of knowledge and experience
• Provide unbiased assessment based on facts
• Demonstrate integrity and trustworthiness
– Accept responsibility for our tasks and actions
• Communicate clearly to gain support for
technical recommendations
Transition Student -> Professional
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Engineering Professional Ethics
• Know your technical society’s code of ethics and
consider joining Order of the Engineer
– Serve the public good before personal gain
– Uphold dignity / honor of the profession
– Provide fair efforts to employer / customer
• Conduct myself in manner to earn public and
team trust
• In conflicting situations, proceed based on
principles
– fairness, honesty, integrity, duty, etc
Transition Student -> Professional
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Toyota Ethics Case Study
• Toyota found liable for wrongful death caused by sudden
acceleration in a Camry (Bookout vs Toyota Motor Corp)
• Liability found based on embedded systems experts testimony
– Found electronic throttle source code to have bugs that can cause
unintended acceleration. In particular, critical variables were not
protected from corruption in noisy environment.
– Demonstrated that a single bit flip can cause losing control of engine
speed due to “software malfunction that is not reliably detected by
any fail-safe.” (Michael Barr, CTO of Barr Group)
• Engineers cannot anticipate all possible defects or faults, but
– Can test all paths as thoroughly as possible
– Can test for off-nominal and stress conditions as much as possible
Transition Student -> Professional
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Engineering Professional Licensing
• Demonstrate level of technical competence
typically recognized by other states
– Pass two exams: Fundamentals of Engineering,
Practice of Engineering
– Show extra commitment as professional
• Legally recognized and obligated as engineer to
protect public health, safety and welfare
• Career flexibility in keeping options open to work
for government or regulated industries
• Could be valuable competing in global economy
Transition Student -> Professional
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Agenda
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Career Paths and Engineering Skills
Working World Realities
Engineering Professional
Career Habits
Lessons Learned
Transition Student -> Professional
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Recommended Career Habits (1 of 2)
• Be patient with others and your expectations
– Take time to build relationships
• Listen first openly and then respond
• Learn from past, live in present, prepare for
future
• Acknowledge and apologize for own mistakes
• Forgive yourself and others without anger
Transition Student -> Professional
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Recommended Career Habits (2 of 2)
• Show respect to others even when they
disagree or act unprofessionally
• Use kind words rather than angry /critical
comments
• Look for common grounds rather than
differences
• Renew yourself physically, mentally, spiritually,
and socially
Transition Student -> Professional
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Agenda
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Career Paths and Engineering Skills
Working World Realities
Engineering Professional
Career Habits
Lessons Learned
Transition Student -> Professional
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Lessons from One Further along the
Engineering Career Road
• Follow the Golden Rule
– Treat your fellow travelers in your life and career
with kindness and respect
• Find your destiny / passion
• Frustrations, setbacks, and disappointments are
small compared to what is inside you
• Be ready to offer thanks and forgiveness openly
Leaving a positive legacy is the final measure of success.
Transition Student -> Professional
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Grateful Thanks
• Kind attentive audience
• Professors Amini and Hashimoto
Transition Student -> Professional
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